Geology, geography and global energy

Scientific and Technical Journal

Fodder base of benthophagic fishes in Kazakhstan sector of Caspian Sea

2018. №2, pp. 74-81

Ulzhabayeva G.S. - Environmental Engineer, LLP “Kazecoproject”, 4 Pushkin st., Atyrau, 050057, Republic of Kazakhstan, gaukhar.ul.sem@mail.ru

Kamelov A.K. - C.Sc. in Biology, Chief Researcher, LLP “Kazecoproject”, 4 Pushkin st., Atyrau, 050057, Republic of Kazakhstan, askar.kamelov@mail.ru

Popov N.N. - C.Sc. in Biology, Chief Researcher, LLP “Kazecoproject”, 4 Pushkin st., Atyrau, 050057, Republic of Kazakhstan, fich63@mail.ru

The Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea includes the eastern parts of the Northern and Middle Caspian. The eastern part of the Northern Caspian is shallow, with a low coast and low inclines of the bottom. It’s a semi-enclosed reservoir, the hydrological regime of which is formed in the conditions of the continental climate and is determined by the flow of the rivers of the Ural and the Volga. It’s practically isolated from the direct influence of the waters of the Middle Caspian. The Eastern part of the Middle Caspian Sea is deep. The eastern parts of the Northern and Middle Caspian play an important role in the life of valuable commercial fish, as are the migration routes places of feeding. Currently, the Kazakhstan sector of the Caspian Sea is experiencing an increasing influence of the anthropogenic factor, one of which is the development of offshore oil and gas fields, which can adversely affect the state of the marine fauna, especially the state of communities of bottom organisms. The main fodder object of most sturgeons and semi-anadromous fishes in the Caspian Sea is a macrozoobenthos. Its species diversity, the abundance and biomass of the susceptible to significant fluctuations under the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors. The bottom fauna of the Caspian Sea is poor in the number of species and diverse in their origin. Over 46 % of the species are endemic. The aim of this research was to assessment the current state of forage macrozoobenthos in the Kazakhstan sector of the sea. The results of researches showed that in summer and autumn of 2016 qualitative composition of macrozoobenthos was practically fully presented by forage objects for bottom dwelling fishes.

Key words: макрозообентос, сообщества донных организмов, казахстанский сектор Каспийского моря, кормовая база, бентосоядные рыбы, распределение, видовое разнообразие, численность, биомасса, macrozoobenthos, communities of benthic organisms, Kazakhstan sector of the

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